The Two 45-Year Rules

The first 45-year rule applies when an owner proposes to demolish any building or structure (excluding accessory structures) that is 45 years or older and is not yet identified as a cultural resource on the South Pasadena Inventory of Cultural Resources. Before the demolition can move forward, the property must be evaluated for potential historic significance.

The owner files a notice of intent to demolish in a form approved by the Director. The package must include:

• An intensive-level Historic Resource Evaluation (HRE) prepared in accordance with California Office of Historic Preservation practice.
• Plans for the replacement project consistent with the standards and requirements of the applicable zoning district.
• Photo verification that the property has been posted with a notice of intent to demolish.
• A historical-resource-evaluation fee covering the city’s costs of hiring a historic consultant or architectural historian.
• A deposit covering CEQA-document costs (initial study, environmental impact report, mitigated negative declaration, or negative declaration as appropriate).

The Commission then makes a determination:

• If the property is not eligible at the federal, state, or local level, the demolition proceeds through the city’s standard application process without further Article IVH restriction.
• If the property is potentially eligible at any of those levels, it is added to the Inventory, and the proposed demolition becomes subject to the full SPMC 2.65(e) Certificate of Appropriateness procedure — Major Project Review, the 3-mandatory-plus-3-of-12 findings, the 60-day Commission decision window, public notice requirements, and so on.

This rule is a demolition-screening tool. It catches buildings that haven’t been formally evaluated yet but are old enough to warrant evaluation before they are torn down.

The second 45-year rule lives in the zoning code’s ADU ordinance — specifically in the historic-property provisions at SPMC 36.350.200(J) — and operates on a different question. It addresses ADU projects that affect existing accessory structures of advanced age on properties listed in the Inventory.

The provision works in concert with the broader objective design standards for ADUs on historic properties (visibility, location, size and height, setbacks, materials, roof types, cladding, doors, windows). It triggers Cultural Heritage Commission consultation under the zoning code review track when the project does not satisfy the ministerial-approval standards. The consultation is part of the zoning-code review framework, not the Article IVH Certificate of Appropriateness framework — see the separate library entry on ADUs on Historic Properties for the full track.

This rule is part of the ADU framework. It ensures older accessory structures are not converted in ways that quietly affect historic character, even when the ADU itself is exempt from the Certificate of Appropriateness requirement under SPMC 2.65(d)(6).

The two rules look superficially similar — both reference a 45-year threshold, both involve the Cultural Heritage Commission in some capacity, both protect historic resources. They are not the same.

• The Article IVH rule is about demolition of buildings that are not yet on the Inventory but are old enough to warrant evaluation. It is a screening tool that determines whether a building should be added to the Inventory before it is torn down.
• The zoning code rule is about ADU projects on properties already on the Inventory, where existing accessory structures are old enough to require special consideration in the ADU design.

An owner whose project touches both rules — for example, demolishing a 50-year-old garage on an Inventory property to build a new ADU in its place — encounters both rules through different review tracks. Knowing which rule applies, and at what stage, is the kind of question owners ask us before they commit to a project direction.

Source: South Pasadena Municipal Code Chapter 2, Article IVH (Cultural Heritage Ordinance, Ord. No. 2315 § 2, 2017), § 2.65(e)(3). SPMC Chapter 36, § 36.350.200(J) (ADU ordinance — historic property provisions). California Office of Historic Preservation, Instructions for Recording Historical Resources (DPR 523 Series). California Public Resources Code § 5024.1; CEQA Guidelines § 15064.5.